Illegal Tribute
by KnucklePuck29
Summary: Emmett wants to do something great for Bay's birthday, so he decides to put up her poster. How do they both feel about that? Short series of one-shots.
1. The Tag

**Author's Note: I love _Switched at Birth_ and have wanted to do a fanfic for a while, but the right inspiration hadn't struck! This is probably one of the only ones I'll do, but I enjoyed writing Emmett's experience putting up Bay's poster. I thought it was sweet that he did that! I love the Bemmett pairing, and ABC Family better not ruin it!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own _Switched at Birth _or any of its characters, ABC Family does. The Toadies own "Possum Kingdom", and I'm sure someone else owns _Deafenstein,_ but I'm not sure who it is! This is just my interpretation of Emmett and his decisions.**

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><p>Emmett clutched the poster, looking down on the parking lot below. Was he crazy? He was beginning to think so. Bay made him do weird things, like run from the cops and want to try speech therapy. He'd never been <em>this<em> rebellious before.

As he sat and stirred the glue, he let his leg swing off the side of the platform to the rhythm of "Possum Kingdom." He kept an eye out for the police, who seemed to have this billboard on their radar and had almost managed to catch him the first time. He was glad he'd gone back for Bay's poster—the one he now planned to hang as her birthday present.

Emmett knew how Bay felt about his relationship with Daphne, so he wanted to do something outrageous for her in order to compensate for the perfect—and admittedly slightly boyfriend-like—gift he'd gotten for Daphne. It had been almost six months ago, before he had met Bay, so that might win him some points. But not many.

He winced, cursing mentally, and imagined what Bay would think when she opened his present. A scarf might not look like much compared with signed _Deafenstein_ memorabilia, but he hoped she would be patient enough to let him carry out the rest of his plan. After all, he was being pretty damn awesome, if he did say so himself.

_She better be excited when I show her this_, he thought, smoothing the first section of poster onto the billboard.

He worked for nearly two hours, trying to make the mural as perfect as it could possibly get, and only stopped to rest once. It was hard work, but he was willing to do it if it made Bay happy. His arms grew sore and jittery, but he finished just after one in the morning.

It was all Emmett could do to climb down the ladder and dispose of the bucket of glue before he collapsed on the pavement. He stared up at his—and Bay's—masterpiece, a satisfied smile on his face. It was the best thing he'd seen in a long time, and he could see Bay's hand in the work. It resembled her other Little Girl pieces, but this one didn't involve any weapons.

After looking at the billboard for a minute or two more, Emmett pushed himself up and walked over to his bike. His arms wouldn't thank him for the late-night workout, but he didn't care. The exhilarating rush of putting the whole thing up without getting caught was worth all the pain.

_Take that, cops,_ he thought with a smirk. Putting on his helmet, he took one last look before slipping the poster tube onto his back and swinging a leg over his bike. With a roar he could feel but not hear, he sped off into the quiet night in the direction of his house.

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><p>When Emmett stepped into his living room, he didn't expect his mom to be waiting on the couch. He flinched, visibly shocked at her presence, and she gave him an angry look.<p>

"Where _were_ you?" she signed, standing and crossing the room.

He backed away a little, wanting to go collapse onto his bed and not wake up for at least ten hours.

"I was at Jackson's house," he replied, attempting to be calm. He shrugged. "No big deal."

"Why didn't you let me know?" Melody asked angrily. She wasn't as calm as her son, not by a long shot. "You know your curfew is eleven."

"I'm sorry, we got caught up. I won't do it again." Emmett rubbed his fist against his chest, trying to look as contrite as possible. "I'm tired. Can I go to bed now?"

"We'll talk about this later, young man." Melody shooed her son away, putting a hand to her forehead like she felt a migraine coming on. He wasn't the same since he met this Bay, the girl who was supposed to have been Daphne.

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><p>Emmett escaped into his room, shutting the door and falling onto his bed fully-clothed. His side still burned from the barbed wire, but he didn't feel like wrapping it up. All he could do was clean it with some alcohol and throw his bloody shirt away.<p>

Once he was back in bed with the light off and the sheets pulled up around him, he thought again about how Bay would react. He hoped she would be surprised and excited by his gift, but she was unpredictable. For all he knew, they'd never get past the initial present of the scarf. She might blow up, like she had when she'd seen his Wall of Daphne.

All he could ask for was a patient, nice reaction. Especially since his mom would be at the birthday party, which already spelled disaster. Bay didn't know that Melody wasn't fond of her, but that could all change if his mom made a scene tomorrow. Of the Sign Language Bay knew, she could probably figure out very quickly what Melody thought of her.

Emmett sighed, puffing up his cheeks and letting the air out slowly. He was in for a wild ride the next twenty-four hours. Even wilder than finding out his best friend was switched at birth and her almost-sister was a rich, intriguing hearing girl. The girls' lives weren't the only ones that changed with that blood test, but he was beginning to think that the whole thing was for the best.

Vowing to do as Bay said and tell Daphne about their relationship, Emmett drifted off to sleep and dreamed of a girl in a pink dress chopping a birthday cake in half.

Yep, his life was totally normal.

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><p><strong>Please review! It would be amazing!<strong>


	2. The Reveal

**Author's Note: Okay, so I said I probably wouldn't write anymore, but I wanted to do Bay's thoughts on Emmett's present. I might do more sort of unseen scenes later, making this a one-shot series. I just love Bemmett, and your review have really inspired me. Thank you for reviewing and keeping me motivated!**

**Disclaimer: I still don't own _Switched at Birth,_ but I wish I did!**

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><p>Bay took Emmett's present from her mom, wondering what he'd picked out. It could be anything: some cool photos, paint, something she hadn't even thought of. Her heart pounded as she opened the card.<p>

"From Emmett," she said, slightly stunned by the lack of writing in the card.

He smiled at her, looking a little sheepish, and nodded encouragingly.

A little apprehensively, Bay opened the box and pushed back the tissue paper on top. A green patterned scarf emerged, and she picked it up gingerly.

"It's a…scarf!" she announced, trying for enthusiasm but managing shock. It had to be, like, a gag gift or something, right?

But, no. Emmett looked so proud, smiling like he'd found the perfect present, and she didn't have the heart to shoot him down. She had no right to ruin his happiness like that.

"Thank you." She vocalized and signed, and Emmett replied with a "No biggie" gesture.

The rest of the family moved on to watch Daphne open her present, but Bay was still focused on her green…sort of paisley scarf. Did Emmett think she wore that kind of thing? Hadn't he seen her lace, leather, and generally dark wardrobe? Was this just a boy's strange gift giving, or did he really not know her as well as she'd thought?

She managed to pull herself out of her reverie in time to see Daphne freak out and pull a giant poster out of her box. "_Deafenstein_" was splashed across a classic horror scene in scary letters.

"And you got Charles Dane to autograph it!" Daphne exclaimed, looking beyond excited.

"What's _Deafenstein_?" Bay asked slowly, trying to catch on to whatever weirdness was going on at the other end of the table.

"It's an all deaf version of _Frankenstein_, done all in ASL!" Daphne explained, signing for Emmett and Melody.

"_Deafenstein_," Toby read. "'He can't hear you scream.' This sounds terrible!"

"It's so bad!" Daphne said, laughing.

Bay watched the exchange, still clutching her scarf tightly. So, Emmett _could_ pick out an excellent gift. He wasn't one of those guys who were missing the present-buying gene, so she couldn't even blame the poor thing on that.

As Emmett explained how he'd gone to a Horror Convention to get Charles Dane to sign the poster, Bay watched his pleased, animated expression. He was so proud of himself, so happy that he'd gotten Daphne such an amazing gift _six months in advance_.

Bay knew she was being unfair. She'd only met Emmett a few weeks ago, and it's not like people start thinking of birthday presents when they're just beginning to hang out. He was a great guy, and he was always so nice to her. His smile was so perfect, and he never took signing too fast or made her feel stupid. He was amazing and—really, a scarf?

Her mind kept rewinding over the past few days, trying to figure out if she'd seen something similar and pointed it out to Emmett. They hadn't passed any stores, and she'd never pick out something like that. It seemed to be entirely his idea.

Bay nodded and smiled along with the conversation going on around her, trying to make it to the point where she could disappear into her art studio and mull this over a little more. Not that she was obsessing or anything.

Finally, once everyone had finished marveling over Daphne's good fortune and eating Kathryn's cake, Bay slipped away into her garage. She laid the scarf and its box on an end table, and then busied herself cleaning up the space. Just as she was putting some stray brushes into a cup, she heard a knock on the door of the garage.

Spinning around to see Emmett waving at her, she managed a smile and said, "Oh, hey! Thanks again for the, uh…scarf."

Emmett slid the offending garment out from under its box, running it through his hands.

"It's…not a scarf," Bay repeated, interpreting his signs. "It's a…blindfold. It's a blindfold?"

Okay, now she was more confused than before. A strange, random scarf was _way_ less weird than a _blindfold_. What was Emmett thinking? She stared at him, waiting for more.

"And it's not your real gift," he concluded, going slow.

Bay cocked an eyebrow, still very out of her element. She had her deaf, sort-of boyfriend standing there telling her that her scarf was really a blindfold, which was strange enough, and that it wasn't her real present. What did that _mean_?

Emmett rolled his eyes slightly, miming for her to turn around. She did so slowly, still completely skeptical of this exchange. He put the scarf over her eyes and tied it in a gentle knot, effectively making her blind. Well, now they were on a semi-even playing field.

Her overactive imagination was firing on all cylinders as he led her out to his bike and snapped the helmet on her head. She could think of eight thousand different reasons not to get on that bike with him, more than three of them involving axe murderers and cold cases.

Emmett brushed some of her hair from under the blindfold, causing her to relax. This was _Emmett_ she was freaking out about. He wouldn't do anything crazy, right? Besides, well, buying her a blindfold as a birthday present.

Once her arms were locked around his waist, Emmett revved up his bike and took off toward his destination. Bay bit her lip, silently vowing to murder him if he did anything freaky. She knew they must look like a strange pair to anyone who could see them, but he obviously didn't care much.

It seemed like they drove forever, making unnecessary turns and looping around more than once. Bay was so impatient by the time Emmett stopped his bike that she was ready to rip the stupid green scarf from her face, but she curled her fingers and let him guide her into position.

She wasn't sure what she expected to see when he took off the blindfold, but it certainly wasn't the billboard near Buckner covered in her art. Her little girl in the pink dress was blowing out red candles on a birthday cake, just as perfect as she had imagined. Nothing could have been more amazing, and she wanted to hit herself for doubting Emmett. _He_ was amazing.

"My art! How did you… You did that?" she asked, signing the words she knew.

He nodded, the sweetest grin on his face, and waited for her reaction.

"It's perfect!" she signed, reaching up to give him a hug. She still couldn't believe it. How…unexpected and fantastic.

"Happy Birthday," he said when they parted, still smiling like a little boy.

"_This_ is badass," she laughed, repeating the silly sign he'd taught her just a couple days ago. This so totally made up for his mom not liking her. Definitely.

While she was staring up at the most amazing birthday present ever, Emmett tapped her shoulder to get her attention.

"I'm sorry I haven't told Daphne about us yet," he said.

_Way to ruin the moment, Emmett._ "It's okay. Maybe it's better coming from me."

He nodded, pursing his lips in that cute way that made her forget everything, and she let him hug her from behind. It was probably the most grand, personal thing anyone had ever done for her. It even trumped her parents' gift of The Thing.

Sighing, Bay relaxed back into Emmett's chest. Who would have thought her favorite tag ever would be the one without a weapon?

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><p><strong>Please review! I love them :)<strong>


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